The Kerala CPI on Tuesday expressed support for Maoist leader Roopesh, his wife Shyna and the other left extremists arrested in Coimbatore recently. “They should be considered as political prisoners. That is the position of our party,” said State CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran in Kochi. “We cannot accept the State’s tendency to oppress voices of dissent in order to protect corporate interests,” he said, adding that the police move to arrest human rights activists in the name of Maoist hunt could not be accepted.
As per reports, the police have drawn up a list of rights workers who have been helping Maoists and a decision has been taken to mount surveillance on them, including telephone-monitoring. The Kerala Police had arrested two human rights workers, Jaison Cooper and Thushar Nirmal Saradhy, after the alleged Maoist attack on an NHAI office near Kochi on January 29.
The CPI leader said that his party would not allow the alleged move of the Tamil Nadu Police to arrest Ami, daughter of Roopesh and Shyna. “All of us know that we cannot hold protest demonstrations in Coimbatore over such a move. If there is any such plan, we will oppose it legally,” Rajendran told newsmen.
The Andhra Pradesh Police had arrested Roopesh, Shyna and three other Maoists with the help of the Tamil Nadu Police from a tea shop at Karumathampatty near Coimbatore on May 4.